Dartmouth’s Ring Rescue, which was founded to sell a system for removing stuck jewelry from people’s fingers, has launched a second product line, which it calls the Dolphin.

Ring Rescue’s first offering uses air pressure to shrink the swelling in a patient’s finger, allowing stuck rings to slide off with the aid of a water-soluble lubricant. The system offers an alternative to doctors’ usual strategy of cutting off stuck rings, which can destroy valuable or emotionally significant jewelry.

The Dolphin, meanwhile, aims to remove rings that are more severely lodged in place by cutting them with the help of a computer system that reduces the risk of accidentally cutting the patient. In a statement, Ring Rescue said its Dolphin system is meant to be safer and easier to use than competing devices.

Founded in 2018 by Dalhousie University-trained engineer Patrick Hennessey and Dartmouth General emergency room physician Dr. Kevin Spencer, Ring Rescue was originally focused on selling its technology to emergency rooms, taking its first product to market in 2019.

The company has since expanded its target market to include fire departments because they also encounter stuck jewelry on a regular basis. Often, firefighters are even called into emergency departments to remove stuck rings because hospitals lack the equipment.

“(The Dolphin) is very sophisticated, driven by a microprocessor that continuously optimizes cutting efficiency and safety, while at the same time it is so easy to use,” said Spencer, now CEO.

“To illustrate this point my kids easily cut a thick titanium ring off my finger within a few minutes. Managing difficult stuck rings used to be a real problem for professionals. This new Ring Rescue Kit allows us to fully reach our goal of being the global experts with the best solutions for fast and safe ring removal.”